Abstract:The paper reports a qualitative, exploratory study of the experiences of a small sample of architects in terms of leading and managing projects. Specifically, the paper considers issues specific to architecture as creative industry and the balance architects have to achieve between the creative and business objectives of their projects. Leadership in projects is examined in the context of projects most often being understood as task-centred and the paper explores the tension between this and modern leadership theory and practice in organisations, both of which tend largely to be based on a focus on people. In particular, the paper reports findings that relate to managing and leading projects whilst maintaining conditions that are stimulating and motivating for creative workers. The study finds that there is indeed a tension between creative and business objectives in the sampled architecture firms. It finds also that modern person-centred techniques are used by architects when leading and managing projects. These can mitigate negative effects business and creative objectives might have on one another, and are observed to prompt value in projects as the autonomy and scope afforded by these techniques encourages creativity.
This paper introduces the concept of the Virtual Collaborative Organisation (VCO), as an evolution from the single, temporary organisation. A VCO is described as a structure where multiple organisations enter strategic partnerships through a collaborative virtual project. The paper undertakes a critique of existing literature on temporary organisations to examine the complexity of achieving strategic alignment within a multiple organisation virtual collaboration. Themes arising from the management of such organisations are discussed in detail, before the role of technology in negotiating strategic alignment within and across multiple organisations is considered. Finally, tensions arising from alignment are debated, and the conclusion is drawn, while the VCO offers organisations a useful route to successful collaboration, tensions remain in the quest for strategic alignment.
The conference attracted 560 delegates from the global academic operations management (OM) community. From a record number of 802 abstracts originally submitted to the conference, 530 abstracts were accepted, resulting in a 64 per cent acceptance rate. From the 530 abstracts invited to submit a full paper, 412 resulted in full papers being presented (a conversation rate of 78 per cent), spread across 48 simultaneous tracks. The theme for EurOMA 2017 was "Inspiring Operations Management". This theme challenged the OM community to engage with OM as maximising opportunities rather than minimising opportunism, by addressing the following questions: what does inspiring OM look like on the shop floor, on-line or in a boardroom? How does theory contribute to inspiring OM? What are inspiring OM practices? And how can OM teaching be inspiring? The intention of the conference theme was to widen discussions on OM to include positive, humanistic concepts like inclusivity, social welfare, equality, personal growth and fulfilment. Traditional OM models often include people only in terms of surveillance, command and control, whereas current and future models need to draw on more diverse perspectives that create positive change in people and practices. Our aim was to celebrate OM as a source of inspiration and optimismto view OM as a force for inspiration, for creativity, encouragement, vision, inventiveness and occasional brilliance. A wide variety of topics were presented within the conference theme. In recent years, supply chain management, as a broad topic, typically dominates proceedings by volume of papers. However, at EurOMA 2017, the number of SCM papers was matched by the number of papers on the theme of sustainability in operations and logistics (both 12 per cent), thereby demonstrating the rise in the importance of the environmental impact of OM. These were followed by innovation, product and service development (5 per cent), managing inter-firm relations in supply chains (4 per cent) and empirical research in operations management (4 per cent). There was also prominent representation for healthcare OM (4 per cent) and humanitarian, operations and crises (2 per cent), responding to the theme of the conference. EurOMA 2017 also welcomed 12 Special Tracks that play a significant role in inspiring operations management. These included right shoring: making correct offshoring and reshoring decisions (3 per cent), operations and supply chain management in engineer-to-order industries (3 per cent). The conference also particularly welcomed a special track in project management: meeting the challenges of managing temporary (multi) organisations (3 per cent), sponsored by the association for project management. In addition to the main conference, delegates had the opportunity of attending various workshops and networking events, including the gala conference dinner at the uniquely Scottish venue of Dynamic Earth. In celebration of Heriot-Watt University's Scottish Heritage, a site visit was arranged to Glenkinchie Whisky Dist...
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